Vishakha Singh's balancing act

Vishakha Singh has a string of releases coming up, including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. The leggy actress on the juggling act

Vishakha Singh had thought there will be no turning back to movies after her debut film Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se bombed at the box office in 2010. But destiny had other plans. At the moment, Vishakha is busy juggling Bollywood with the South Indian film industry. “I don’t believe in planning my life now. I have always gone with my gut instinct. My parents say that the right thing happens at the right time,” she says. The Fukrey actress recently did a Tamil film and is currently shooting for a Telugu film Rowdy Fellow. But she is most excited about The Maya Tape, a psychological thriller that also stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Over to Vishakha:

Vishakha Singh plays a journalist in The Maya Tape

Mumbai darshanWhen I came to Mumbai in 2003, I had auditioned for Swades and got shortlisted as well. But later, I was told that I am too young for the role. My parents weren’t keen on me joining films at that time. So I got a degree in Business Administration from Delhi. I came to Mumbai in 2007 and started getting ad offers. Slowly, film offers from South India too started coming my way. In 2009, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey released after which, I started taking acting seriously.

Movies on my mindRowdy Fellow is my most commercial film till date. I am also doing a Malayalam film Motorcycle Diaries. But I’m most excited about The Maya Tape which is slated to release in March this year. The film also stars Nawazudddin Siddiqui. It is a psychological thriller about two journalists who go to cover a story in the North East and how they become a victim of that story.

Wah NawazNawaz is a spontaneous actor. His humble upbringing is one of the reasons he is so down to earth why he is a gem of a person. While shooting for the film, we were constantly improvising on the scenes.

Language no barWhen I started shooting The Maya Tape, Nawaz and I were new to the industry. People hardly knew us. But now when the film gets completed, it will be distributed on the basis of Nawaz’s popularity, as well as some of my achievements. In the film, I play a journalist. I will be playing one of those scary television anchors who cover crime. I often wonder what the secret of their energy is (laughs). It is a bilingual film so I had to speak in Hindi and Bengali as well. When I was asked if I would like to be in the Bengali version, I thought if I can do Tamil and Telugu, then why not Bengali.